Monthly Recap: February

February 28, 2013

In my monthly recap I share my month in books and blog posts. Inspired by In My Mailbox by The Story Siren and Keeping Up with the Blogosphere by Radiant Shadows . And all other recap posts!

Okay, so despite the fact that tomorrow is March 1st and I have all kinds of stuff planned for next month, I didn't realize today was the last day of February. Yes, I am this smart. Sorry if this post is a little messy, because I don't have much time right now. You know, I need to read and stuff. February was a month of new obsessions (*cough* Vampire Academy), fun secret things, lots of emotions and some spectacular books.

Book Haul





I purchased: Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, Spirit Bound, Last Sacrifice, Bloodlines and The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead, Altered by Jennifer Rush, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Scarlet by Marissa Meyer, Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi, The Peculiar by Stephen Bachman, Tempest by Julie Cross, The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Roth, Glitch by Heather Anastasiu, The Madman's Daughter by Megan Sheperd, The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen, Pivot Point by Kasie West and Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Have you read (and loved) any of these? Which should I read asap?

What happened on Paper Riot...

Joint Review of The Evolution of Mara Dyer with Cassie: The lovely Cassie and I combined forces to ramble about our favorite parts, Noah Shaw, our favorite quotes and THAT ENDING OMG.

Review of Scarlet by Marissa Meyer: I confess that I want to sit around a campfire and listen to Marissa Meyer tell ghost stories, and meet my new favorite kick-ass heroine.

Review of Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell: Sugar sweet but brutally honest, cute but unexpectedly serious, simple but very complicated, Eleanor & Park is one of the most authentic books I've read in a long time.

Top Ten Characters I Want To Be When I Grow Up: Yes, this is a genre.

Review of Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi: This book absorbed me. It was raw and emotional and gorgeous. Much like Juliette, this book made me feel like OH MY EMOTIONSSS.

Books Belong to Their Readers - A Piece of Mind post: I try to explain why not everyone will like the same books, though that mostly ends in me wanting to hit that person for hating on my faves.

Review of Altered by Jennifer Rush: This book made my heart pound, and not just because it was so freaking thrilling the entire time.

...and in the book blogging world

All My Reviews Sound the Same (Feat. Jennifer Lawrence) at Makeshift Bookmark. First: I have been noticing what Jen says about how all her reviews sound kind of the same on my own blog as well. It's been annoying me for a while, but somehow I don't know how to change it. Second: Jennifer. Freaking. Lawrence.

ARCs, Blog Hauls and Jealousy at Radiant Shadows. Though I understand jealousy, I don't think it should keep people from posting book hauls. If you can't share your love for books on the book blogosphere, I don't know where else you could.

Daily Dishonesty by Lauren Hom. Meet my new favorite graphic designer! Lauren Hom creates the most gorgeous typography, and her daily dishonesties are so funny. I may or may not have used all of these lines at some point. 

Discussion: Do Reviews Get Read at Readers in Wonderland. I always wonder about this. Though I like to read everything I comment on and always hope people do the same thing, I'm not so sure if this actually happens. Lovely discussion.

Genres: They Shall Be My Undoing at Queen Ella Bee Reads. Remember when I used to label my reviews? It used to be so easy to have a book and say "this is a fantasy" or "this is a dystopia". Well, NOT ANYMORE. Gaby shares my frustration.

Socially Disconnected! at Book Rock Betty. Though I'm not saying I don't have my phone next to me right now, I do hate it when you meet people who look at their phone every five minutes. Especially when they're talking to me. Um, hello? I'm right here.

(You Drive Me) Crazy at So Obsessed With. Hannah wrote a brilliant post slash cry for help on how to keep up with commenting, something I've been thinking about for a while now. I used to be Comment Queen, but lately I've been slacking and it annoys me very much.

other things that happened

I participated in the Book Blogger Love-a-Thon, hosted by Alexa and Katelyn, which was so much fun. It honestly made me want to hug every one of you for spreading the love and being so wonderful and kind and oh my goodness there I go again. I had a lot of fun. Check out my posts of that day:

I've been working on a TOP SECRET PROJECT with some of my favorite bookish people - Amber, Betty and Hannah. Don't worry, we're almost ready to share the awesomeness with you!
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20 comments:

  1. Great haul, so many awesome books! Enjoy the rest of VA books and hopefully you'll continue on with Bloodlines as well :)

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    1. Well, I bought the first three books in that series so I HAVE to continue after VA haha. But I just <3 these books!

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    2. I loved VA too. I haven't read bloodlines yet though. Are you a dimitri or Adrian lover? Or Christian? He's cool too lol

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  2. You know, I also didn't realize that it's already March tomorrow. My birthday is getting so close. Scary :|

    Wow, great haul. Like you know, Scarlet *fangirl* I liked Unearthly. The Peculiar is awesome! A combination between Neil Gaiman and Harry Potter :D I've have had Code Name Verity in my hands a couple of times, but I can't decide whether I want to buy it or not.. I can't wait to see your review! :) The madman's daughter sounds great. I also have those books from the VA, but I haven't started yet and I can't wait to read my copy from Shadow and bone. Everybody is so raving about it.

    I'm already excited about the TOP SECRET PROJECT. I already know it's going to be epic.

    Mel@thedailyprophecy.

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    1. Ha, mine too! I honestly hadn't realized it and then I saw a February wrap-up post and I was like, OH CRAP I NEED TO GET THIS THING DONE TOO. I hope you read VA soon, because <3 it. And I'm so happy you liked The Peculiar! I picked it up at the American Book Center without actually knowing what it was about, but that sounds good! :) And haha, I hope it's awesome. Thanks Mel :D

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  3. Okay so I love the pictures of books you took, they are breathtakingly beautiful! You should join Tumblr if you like that kind of photography. Tumblr rocks!

    Anyhow, seeing those Vampire Academy books made me want to go pick one and read stat because they just look so beautiful. Another series I haven't started yet. Oh well.

    So yes, the discussions at Kelly's blog are intuitive and wow, Honestly WTF's typography is amazing. All the other discussion posts are also great, I never frequented them much but now I really like reading them especially the ones at Jamie's Perpetual Page-Turner blog.

    Yay for the top secret project. =D

    Sana @ artsy musings of a bibliophile

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    1. Aw, thank you! I like Tumblr just fine, but I'm kind of Instagram-obsessed right now. As you can probably tell haha. Honestly, if I'd listed all the brilliant discussion posts this month this post would have been A LOT longer! So many good ones :)

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  4. I was late to the whole Vampire Academy series to, but I loved it all the same. I like the covers you have for the series. They look simpler and more elegant than the copies I have.

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    1. Yes, I love these UK covers! (I think they're the UK covers at least.) The perks of being the last person to start a series I guess, haha.

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  5. I now want your copies of VA - they look so pretty! I hope you enjoy them; I love that series but especially Dimka <3

    Thanks for the linkage - that was a popular one for me this month!

    I look forward to this top secret project!

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    1. I love that series for Rose and Dimitri mostly haha. Love them both! <3

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  6. aw. thanks for the shout out. :)

    and umm.... def jealous of your VA covers!

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    1. You're welcome haha. Aren't they pretty?! :)

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  7. haha don't feel too bad, February does that to me every time. It's too damn short >.< Anyways, you had a fabulous month - I can't wait to crack open my copy of VA...feeling like I may get obsessed fast! Same goes for Cinder & Unearthly, my copies just taunt me every time I walk by my reading pile! I'll have to come back & check your reviews once I've read those :) Oh and I really want to read Shadow and Bone - hope you'll love it!

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    1. Oh, please read VA soon! I loved it so much, and can't wait to continue the series! And CINDER oh my god yes! I loved S&B btw :)

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  8. You know, I'm always meaning to do one of these things - and then I forget, and the next month rolls in. *sigh* But yay for March? Haha.

    Thanks for joining the Love-a-Thon! I hope you enjoyed it.

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    1. It felt like I blinked and then suddenly it was March. But um, I don't mind I guess haha. And I had a great time :)

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  9. Great month of books. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. GIRL I didn't even know my crazy discussion post made it into your monthly recap *blushes prettily* (because that's totally how I blush in real life). Anyway, WONDERFUL BOOKISH MONTH my dear. May March finish off just as wonderfully ^_^

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    1. I know, I know. This is you:

      [im]http://1lifeisallwegot.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/happy-oh-stop-it-you1.png[/im]

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